Slideshow: Metallica 3/2/04

After a four year absence that saw a public relations nightmare with the Napster lawsuit as well as a change of bass players, speed-metal kings Metallica returned to the Valley Tuesday night, nearly 19 years to the day since its first visit.

This time the venue was quite a bit bigger. The four-piece band opened its 2004 tour in the round to a packed house at America West Arena, quite a contrast to the audience who saw the band open for W.A.S.P. on March 6, 1985 at the State Theater.

The show started with a tight hour from nu-metal faves Godsmack. Singer Sully Erna jokingly complained about the circular stage – his band had to dodge around Metallica's equipment during its performance. Godsmack's set climaxed with a drum duet between Erna and drummer Tommy Stewart that included snatches of classic rock hits "Walk this Way", "YYZ", "Moby Dick” and "Tom Sawyer."

After an hour's worth of stage setup and soundchecks, Metallica took the stage to the strains of Morricone's "Ecstasy of Gold" played behind film clips of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". The band quickly kicked into "Blackened," from its 1988 album "…And Justice for All." Pyrotechnics erupted from the stage as singer James Hetfield barked the line "Give me fuel, give me fire" heralding the start of the hit "Fuel."

After thanking the crowd for not forgetting them during their long time away, the band proved it is the undisputed kings of metal, weaving through a lengthy set that touched on each of its albums. Although Metallica's self-titled 1990 breakthrough got the most attention, the set seemed to favor the band's groundbreaking '80s work, from albums like "Ride the Lightning" and "Master of Puppets."

Conspicuously scarce were tracks from the quartet's new album, "St. Anger." Perhaps the band realizes that its newer material does not measure up to past efforts, because only two tracks were played, the title track and "Frantic." Indeed, much of the band's '90s output was ignored as well, with only "King Nothing" from 1996's "Load" and the aforementioned "Fuel" from '97's "Re-Load" representing that time period.

Newish bass player Robert Trujillo seemed at ease with the band, alternately grinning and grimacing while squatting and stomping around the stage. He even took a short bass solo before "For Whom the Bell Tolls," proving himself a worthy successor to the late Cliff Burton and former Valley resident Jason Newsted.

After a blistering 75-minute set the band quickly ducked under the stage, leaving audience members wondering if we would only get a short show. But an hour and three encores later, it was clear that Valley fans had gotten a treat.

The first encore break ended with "Master of Puppets" and the band again retreated into its onstage foxholes, as the stage darkened and soundbites from "Full Metal Jacket" reverberated over the mammoth PA.

Suddenly the audience was jolted out of its reverie by massive explosions of fireworks and pyrotechnics, simulating a Vietnam firefight. From there the band launched into the anti-war hit "One", which led into the band's smash, "Enter Sandman."

As the four took their bows and tossed picks and drumsticks to their adoring fans it seemed the show was over. But the guitars were soon back on and Metallica delivered a pair of tunes from their earliest days, a cover of Budgie's "Breadfan" from their "Garage Days" EP and "Hit the Lights," from its debut "Kill ‘Em All."

While Metallica played with energy to spare, the terrible acoustics of AWA swallowed most of the trademark precision of guitarist Kirk Hammett. Trujillo's bass and Hetfield's rhythm guitar were often just a murky sludge, but thanfully the vocals did not suffer. Also, the quartet occasionally seemed slightly out of sync, perhaps because of the enormity of the stage and the fact that drummer Lars Ulrich's set was on the outer ring of the rotating stage.

But this is arena rock, and its supposed to be loud and fast. So we'll thank our earplugs and thank Metallica, for finally returning to the Valley. There have been a few bumps along the way, but its been a great 19-year ride boys.

SETLIST:
Blackened
Fuel
Harvester of Sorrow
Sanitarium
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Bass solo)
Frantic
King Nothing
Holier than Thou
Sad But True
Creeping Death
Battery

Encore 1:
St. Anger
Nothing Else Matters
Master of Puppets
Encore 2:
One
Enter Sandman
Encore 3:
Breadfan
Hit the Lights